Romo fests
I love fall in Romania. The leaves change color, the air turns colder (hey, I’m from Michigan; I love the cold!), but most importantly, autumn means harvest festivals! I really love harvest festivals. Each farming community has their own, and they are spread all throughout the end of August, all of September and the beginning of October.
A few weekends ago I went to a nearby village called Pericei with my PCV friend Lauren and our Hungarian friend Timi. Timi’s family is from Pericei, so we just stayed at her parents’ house for the weekend. We hung out with her many cousins; the only names I remembered were Attila, Chuba, Zoli, István, Balázs, Ella and Sanyi. Pericei is a Hungarian village, so 90% of the people there only speak Hungarian. And, since I don’t, it made talking to people a little difficult. But luckily for me, Lauren speaks English and Hungarian and Timi speaks Romanian and Hungarian. So as long as I was with one of them, I was fine.
The whole festival started off with the conjoining together of a giant onion rope. Each family had their basket full of onions straight from the gardens, still with the long rope-like ropes attached. Then they just braided them all together, like a French braid, and made one giant rope out of it. I was told that the whole thing was over 5 K long. That’s over 3 miles of onions tied together!
Then we went to the un-veiling of a new statue for the village; it was a giant bronze onion. It looked kind of like a giant tear-drop, but the people were very proud of it. They had the statue placed in one of the few public spaces in the village, which turned out to be the school playground. After showing off the statue, we went to the city hall for a feast. There’s a traditional stew called bogracsos. It is soooo good. I’m not sure what’s in it, but I know there were potatoes, beef and paprika for sure. Traditionally it’s one dish that only men are allowed to make. They cook it outside in a giant pot over a roaring fire. It’s something like goulash, but I’m told they’re not the same. After eating there was traditional dancing and songs-also on the playground. Around midnight, the traditional music stopped and we danced the rest of the night away to a rock band.
The next weekend was another festival in a different village called Crasna. One of my PCV friends, Ed, lives in Crasna, so again Lauren, Timi and I, together this time with our friend Dave, went and crashed at Ed’s host family’s house. We arrived in Crasna just in time to see the parade. It consisted of horse-drawn chariots, traditional dancing, non-traditional dancing, a marching band and the county’s K-9 unit. Not a typical parade for us Americans, but a lot of fun. After the parade was more bogracsos (Crasna also being a Hungarian village), then dancing and music.
The next day we went to a chariot racing event. It’s kind of like an obstacle course for old fashioned chariots pulled by two horses. The horses were beautiful; most of them were dressed up for the occasion with tassels, ear-muffs and bells. The drivers were also dressed up in traditional costumes, top hats and ties. My friend Atti knew one of the drivers and got us a ride in one of the chariots. It was so much fun! Dave, Lauren and I were all in the back seat and we were so squished we couldn’t move. But it helped whenever we rode over ruts or bumps or else somebody would have fallen off.
Ed’s host family, or gazda in Romanian, owns a small house up in the hills just outside of town where they grow their own fruits and vegetables to eat. They also have a grape vineyard and make their own wine. We met with the neighbors and sat around and talked for about an hour, eating grapes right off the vine and apples off the trees. One of the neighbors invited me to marry one of his sons, but I politely declined. Dave got an invitation to go skiing, once snow falls, which he did not decline.
After that we walked back into town where we got to ride on what is called a “dragon” in Hungarian. It’s more like a motorized hand glider. I had to wear a giant helmet and winter coat. The coat was way too big on me, and I must have looked ridiculous, but I didn’t care. It was totally worth it. From the sky I could see not only Crasna, but the neighboring village of Vârşolţ as well. And I could just make out Zalău in the distance. The pilot of the dragon only spoke Hungarian, so I think he was explaining the landscape to me but I couldn’t understand him. I felt like I was only up in the air for about five mintues, but when we landed Timi told me I was up in the air for about twenty. Either way, it was way too short.
In two weeks from now, the weekend of September 29th, there are two more festivals. One in Şimleu Silvaniei and one in Turda. I have friends in both places, so I just have to decide what I want to do/see. Either way, I’m excited!
A few weekends ago I went to a nearby village called Pericei with my PCV friend Lauren and our Hungarian friend Timi. Timi’s family is from Pericei, so we just stayed at her parents’ house for the weekend. We hung out with her many cousins; the only names I remembered were Attila, Chuba, Zoli, István, Balázs, Ella and Sanyi. Pericei is a Hungarian village, so 90% of the people there only speak Hungarian. And, since I don’t, it made talking to people a little difficult. But luckily for me, Lauren speaks English and Hungarian and Timi speaks Romanian and Hungarian. So as long as I was with one of them, I was fine.
The whole festival started off with the conjoining together of a giant onion rope. Each family had their basket full of onions straight from the gardens, still with the long rope-like ropes attached. Then they just braided them all together, like a French braid, and made one giant rope out of it. I was told that the whole thing was over 5 K long. That’s over 3 miles of onions tied together!
Then we went to the un-veiling of a new statue for the village; it was a giant bronze onion. It looked kind of like a giant tear-drop, but the people were very proud of it. They had the statue placed in one of the few public spaces in the village, which turned out to be the school playground. After showing off the statue, we went to the city hall for a feast. There’s a traditional stew called bogracsos. It is soooo good. I’m not sure what’s in it, but I know there were potatoes, beef and paprika for sure. Traditionally it’s one dish that only men are allowed to make. They cook it outside in a giant pot over a roaring fire. It’s something like goulash, but I’m told they’re not the same. After eating there was traditional dancing and songs-also on the playground. Around midnight, the traditional music stopped and we danced the rest of the night away to a rock band.
The next weekend was another festival in a different village called Crasna. One of my PCV friends, Ed, lives in Crasna, so again Lauren, Timi and I, together this time with our friend Dave, went and crashed at Ed’s host family’s house. We arrived in Crasna just in time to see the parade. It consisted of horse-drawn chariots, traditional dancing, non-traditional dancing, a marching band and the county’s K-9 unit. Not a typical parade for us Americans, but a lot of fun. After the parade was more bogracsos (Crasna also being a Hungarian village), then dancing and music.
The next day we went to a chariot racing event. It’s kind of like an obstacle course for old fashioned chariots pulled by two horses. The horses were beautiful; most of them were dressed up for the occasion with tassels, ear-muffs and bells. The drivers were also dressed up in traditional costumes, top hats and ties. My friend Atti knew one of the drivers and got us a ride in one of the chariots. It was so much fun! Dave, Lauren and I were all in the back seat and we were so squished we couldn’t move. But it helped whenever we rode over ruts or bumps or else somebody would have fallen off.
Ed’s host family, or gazda in Romanian, owns a small house up in the hills just outside of town where they grow their own fruits and vegetables to eat. They also have a grape vineyard and make their own wine. We met with the neighbors and sat around and talked for about an hour, eating grapes right off the vine and apples off the trees. One of the neighbors invited me to marry one of his sons, but I politely declined. Dave got an invitation to go skiing, once snow falls, which he did not decline.
After that we walked back into town where we got to ride on what is called a “dragon” in Hungarian. It’s more like a motorized hand glider. I had to wear a giant helmet and winter coat. The coat was way too big on me, and I must have looked ridiculous, but I didn’t care. It was totally worth it. From the sky I could see not only Crasna, but the neighboring village of Vârşolţ as well. And I could just make out Zalău in the distance. The pilot of the dragon only spoke Hungarian, so I think he was explaining the landscape to me but I couldn’t understand him. I felt like I was only up in the air for about five mintues, but when we landed Timi told me I was up in the air for about twenty. Either way, it was way too short.
In two weeks from now, the weekend of September 29th, there are two more festivals. One in Şimleu Silvaniei and one in Turda. I have friends in both places, so I just have to decide what I want to do/see. Either way, I’m excited!